There's no doubting the immoral practice in fundamentalist communities where Sharia law allows, nay encourages, stoning women, usually on trumped up charges. Not forgetting that Christians burnt witches for decades in the name of religion; but that was a long time ago. That a practice which has nothing to do with religion and everything to do with the subjugation of women continues in ill-educated corners of the Muslim world, Saudi Arabia for instance, remains a hot button topic. So it was for a French journalist (Passion's Christ, Jim Caviezel) who meets Soraya's Aunt (Aghdashloo) in Iran. They swap stores, he write a best-selling account of the young woman's death: The Stoning of Soraya M.
It makes for a riveting story of outrage and, for the producers of The Passion of the Christ, a spectacular opportunity to feature ten epic minutes of titular torture porn. They're good at that. While the circumstances of Soryaya's tragedy aren't in question, her treatment here is. In a community populated by stock villains and cowards, Soryaya's husband is an immoral monster who wants to marry a teenage girl. With the help of a blackmailed elder, charges of adultery are fabricated and he gets what he wants. Then the stoning begins (and yes, a whiff of Monty Python does not help).
Caviezel is sturdy as the narrative touchstone, Adhdashloo (The House of Sand and Fog) is tremendous as the grieving Aunt, but neither can get you past director Nowrasteh's less than subtle treatment. Certainly, the subject is far from subtle, yet big themes – how can an entire village let such a monstrous thing happen, Sharia law notwithstanding – are let slide in favour of emotional excess. Come for the moral outrage, stay for Aghdashloo's compelling performance, leave before the stoning. That and the Hollywood-esque, rather silly and unnecessarily upbeat ending.
// COLIN FRASER
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